Read how some municipalities are handling their kitchen scrap composting.
I've been battling with winter composting for years: I've used snow-covered, frozen, squirrel-ravaged outdoor bins; sent buckets of kitchen scraps to my parents' compost heap in the country; and relied on an army of red wiggler worms living in a plastic bin in my house.
Get tips on backyard composting, worm composting, grass recycling, water-wise gardening, and fire-wise gardening.
This discussion is about what composting worms eat. They are also known as red wigglers, red worms or eisenia fetida.
The worms have been called into work, helping provide compost for the school’s garden.
Worm composting is a growing technique for composting inside apartments and homes.
The Worm Ladies, of Charlestown, R.I., will discuss how to use red wiggler worms (Eisenia fetida) to help reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills.
This apart, modern vermiculture (rearing selected species of earthworms) is another highly effective tool for re-introducing living beings into the soils. The addition of earthworm-rich vermicompost rejuvenates the soils and raises plant yields. Given the scale of the problem, these technologies need to be promoted vigorously.
One thing to remember is that the worms are not going to eat the food right away.
It has to start decomposing a little before they chow down. That might take a day or two for cucumber peelings or melon rinds and a little longer for pumpkin or squash.
Good worm farming info here and details of an upcoming workshop.
Gardeners and people living sustainably have discovered the myriad benefits of keeping a worm bin in recent years. Not only do worms readily eat your kitchen waste, thereby keeping it out of the landfill, they produce one of the most sought-after substances for great gardens — worm castings, a potent fertilizer and soil conditioner.
This looks like it would have been an interesting event to attend.
"Attendees said another popular session, held on Saturday, was about worm composting. Led by Colorado residents Amy Silverman and Nick La Haise, attendees learned that worm castings can restore soil fertility and make for a fast, practical way to maintain gardens."
Food justice activists gather for summit
Vancouver residents are able to divert some of their food scraps from the landfill to worm composting bins.
"Currently no food scrap collection program exist in the multifamily sector in the Metro Vancouver region," states the report. "Worm composting, designed primarily for apartment dwellers, allows people to compost without the need of a backyard."City spearheads new food scrap pickup pilot project
"Worm composting is really simple and will easily reduce your household waste stream by one third to one half—especially if your household eats lots of organics," said TNRD environmental health services technologist Martin Dickson in a press release.
Worms can turn your fruit and vegetable scraps into a good soil improvement mix. You can easily become a worm rancher and grow your own worm compost. You just need garbage, newspapers, worms, and a box.
Check out the latest infodeo for Healing Grounds Certified Organic Nursery on putting together a worm composting system.
Its easy to set up and to maintain. Its perfect for your kitchen waste. Harvest high quality worm castings for you're garden and house plants.
In case you're unfamiliar, vermicomposting is a special way to return the nutrients in vegetable waste to the soil. It involves using earthworms, specifically "red wiggler" (Eisenia fetida) worms, to eat coffee grounds, apple cores, carrot peelings, and other waste. In the process, the worms turn this "garbage" into a rich natural fertilizer.
A video by the teacher showing the students with the worms and worm farm
This is a great idea. I wish more area would start this type of facility.
The city government has put up a centalized vermicomposting (worm composting) facility ot allow farmers to manage biodegradable wastes from the public market and produce nutrient-rich crops.
If you are in the Canada Bay, Sydney area take a look at this idea:
I am looking for keen/passionate people who would like to make a tiny contribution in making our planet cleaner and neater by getting into organic gardening including no-dig gardening, worm farming, composting and bokashi composting.
This post addresses the issue of moisture in the worm bin.
Over the last few days I think my worms may have gotten a bit thirsty. I had not seen much activity (crawling around on food scraps) so I felt around in the soil under the food waste and it was very dry. I added two cups of water. I hope that does the trick.
Restaurant has on-site worm composting bin.
A great deal of work and research was involved in getting the on-site worm composting project started, Craig said.
I will be following this expeririment to see how long it will take for the worms to multiply.
I've been interested in vermiculture, composting with worms, for awhile now. With our back yard currently 3 feet deep in snow, anything to avoid making a trip to the compost pile sounds like a good idea!
The local affiliate of Canadian miner TVI Pacific Inc. said training programs include vegetable and livestock production, vermiculture and composting, abaca, banana and fruit tree production, and the continuous distribution and planting of more rubber tree seedlings.
These cub scouts are learning how to be good to the earth.
At an exhibit of vermiculture (worms) and composting, the boys examined up-close the activity of worms and how they consume organic matter and produce castings to fertilize the earth.
Good post about setting up a worm farm to produce worm castings.
Although it will be a while before I can do that, I've been gearing up for gardening season all winter by making black gold, a.k.a worm poop, um I mean worm castings.
This is a follow-up video showing the final step in the worm composting process.
3 months after starting our worm compost bin we are ready to harvest all the worm castings. I will be making a few batches of worm tea as well as adding the worm castings to the raised gardens as top dressing.
Vermiculture - Harvesting worm castings after 3 months - red wiggler worm composting
Great idea! Hope this works and other areas pick up the idea.
WORMS will be put to work to create local jobs and reduce waste under an enterprising Anglicare plan.
